Google has continued its global program to license news and current affairs content, as part of a campaign to assure lawmakers that it is not threatening the viability of the global news media.
As part of that campaign, the global search and content giant has inked agreements with 30 domestic publishers in India, bringing the total number of content deals to roughly 700 publications in more than a dozen countries. India represents the world’s largest consumer of news, with a population of more than 1.4 billion people, and one of the globe’s strongest news media networks.
The deal includes some of the countries largest news organizations, including the Deccan Herald, Indian Express Group, The Hindu Group, and The Telegraph India.
Sanjay Gupta, Google’s VP for India, says the Google News Showcase program allows publishers to curate high-quality content on its News and Discover panels, with links that now take readers to the news outlets’ own sites to access the full article. As well, Gupta says Google will also be paying participating news organizations to give readers access to some content behind a paywall.
“This feature means readers will have the opportunity to read more of a publisher’s articles than they would otherwise be able to, while deepening readers’ relationships with publishers and encouraging them to subscribe,” Gupta explained in a company blog article.